Low Calorie Food Market Overview

Low-Calorie Food Market - Industry Overview

Published On : Aug 28, 2014

According to a leading market study on “Low-calorie Food: Stevia to Witness Highest Growth by 2019," the global Low-calorie food market was valued at $7,418.6 million in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2014 to 2019. The market will reach an estimated value of $10,414.7 million in 2019.

Low-Calorie Food – Industry Overview

Low-calorie food segment is the key segment of the global health food market. Today, low-calorie food products are available everywhere including, food segments such as confectionery, dietary beverages, dairy products, and baked products. People consume low-calorie foods and beverages for several reasons apart from dieting. Low-calorie or no-calorie sweeteners offer consumers the option to manage a well-balanced diet and lifestyle. Increasing health awareness and constantly changing consumer lifestyle in favor of low-calorie food products are some of the major growth factors for this market. The market for low-calorie food is also increasing due to the rising diabetes concern, as well as growing obesity rates in the world.

Authors of a leading market firm state that obesity has become a global concern, perhaps, world’s most challenging health problems among varying populations. According to a report by the World Health Organization, (WHO), around 42 million children aged below five suffered from obesity in 2010 and 347 million people suffered from diabetes in 2013, globally.

The rate of obesity in the U.S. is around 36.5% of the total U.S. population. By far, the U.S. has the highest obesity rate among different countries in the world. Other countries, such as the U.K. has around 24.8% - highest obese population in Europe, whereas, in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia leads with 28.3%. Many more growing number of diabetes cases is seen in developing markets like China, Brazil, and India.

Low-Calorie Food Products – Growth Drivers

The primary growth factors of this market are remarkably the increasing concerns for healthy lifestyle, health awareness, rising obesity and diabetes. Obesity among children is a primary concern for most of the parents. Many people are obese at a young age and are more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Therefore, to avoid such health issues and stay well-balanced and energetic, people have started consuming low-calorie food products so as to take precautionary measures that could lead to some fatal conditions.

The need for such products has led to the expansion of low-calorie food products, low-calorie sweeteners, or diet beverages, etc.

Low-Calorie Food Market – Product Segment Analysis

The low-calorie food market is bifurcated by the application type (low-calorie ingredients) and the type of low-calorie food. Based on end-users, the segment is further classified into food, healthcare, beverages, tabletop and others.

Low-calorie sweeteners have become highly popular among beverage products including, sports drinks, soft drinks, flavored and functional water. Similarly, the tabletop sector is also gaining popularity and growing rapidly worldwide.

Aspartame is the most widely used artificial sweetener in the market; however sucralose is now gaining more popularity than the former. Sucralose is predicted to dominate the market with its fast and strong growth in the future. Now-a-days, the growing consumer preference for stevia has become popular due to its 100% natural sweetener qualities. Stevia is posing tough challenge to other high-intensity sweeteners such as saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame.

Regionally, the U.S. holds the largest shares in the global low-calorie food market, followed by the European countries. Amongst the Asia-Pacific region, emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil are expected to exhibit high growth in the next five years. The demand for low-calorie food is high in these regions due to rising number of diabetes cases. Growth is high in the Asian countries owing to higher disposable income and increasing urbanization factors. Such aspects act as growth opportunities for premium low-calorie food products at moderate pricing.